Police seize 4,000 pot plants in raids of Washington homes

LYNNWOOD -- Investigators say they seized more than 4,000 marijuana plants from homes in King and Snohomish counties during raids last week.

More than 1,100 plants were found in houses in Lynnwood and Everett, and in a related case, about 3,200 plants were seized in two houses in King County.

Detectives think the indoor pot farms were set up and tended by drug traffickers connected to Vietnamese criminal groups.

"These were professional jobs. We're not talking 10 plants in a closest," Lynnwood police Sgt. Jim Nelson, a supervisor with the South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force, told The Herald newspaper of Everett.

The grow-operations included advanced ventilation systems, and at one home electricity was being stolen to avoid a suspiciously large power bill.

Detectives arrested three people in the raids Thursday, all in Lynnwood. Son Bui, 40, and his girlfriend Tran Luong, 46, set up the operations in Lynnwood and Everett, police say.

The third suspect, Cang Nguyen, 32, told police he was paid about $15,000 every three months to tend marijuana plants at a Lynnwood house, court records said. The group also is believed to be connected to two growing operations in King County, Nelson said.

Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, said no decision had been made on whether to bring federal charges.